1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a balloon catheter and particularly to a balloon catheter including a refolding device for folding the balloon onto the catheter tube during balloon deflation.
2. Relevant Technology
Various techniques and balloon structures have been developed for a defined or predictable folding during balloon deflation. For example U.S. Pat. No. 6,623,451 B2 describes a balloon catheter with a device including a band and a plurality of elongated fingers attached to the band to fold the balloon in a uniform and predictable manner during balloon deflation. However, the disclosed device is adapted neither to expand the balloon equally or symmetrically along the entire internal length of the balloon nor to assure a defined and equal refolding in all spatial directions without causing a so called “pancake-folding” or other folding failure.